論詹姆斯.喬伊斯《阿拉比》中的哥特元素 On the Gothic Elements in James Joyce’s Araby

摘 要：本文旨在分析《阿拉比》中的怪誕意象、陰暗面、恐懼以及非理性、超自然的元素，即“哥特元素”，并與該小說的哥特文學樣式、技巧和主題一道，得以構建完美的哥特文學整體。為此，讀者得以一步步理解該小說是如何通過挖掘大量神秘驚悚的成分來激起人們不寒而栗的恐懼。

關鍵詞：詹姆斯·喬伊斯；《阿拉比》；哥特元素

作者簡介：鄧蕊（1986—），女，四川外語學院2009級碩士研究生，專業：英語語言文學，研究方向：英語文學。

[中圖分類號]：I106 [文獻標識碼]：A

[文章編號]：1002-2139(2011)-24-0072-01

In James Joyce’s Araby， several slight gothic elements can be found in terms of analyzing its literary styles， techniques and theme. Although part of Araby appears bright for the reader; however， grotesque imagery， darkness， irrationality， mystery and fear also consist the novel， which can be identified as gothic elements. Thus the story of the hero with great emotion， passion and suffering finally ends up in disillusionment. And this short paper aims at analyzing these gothic elements.

The word Gothic originally referred to the Goths， and early Germanic tribe， then came to signify “Germanic，” then “medieval.” “Gothic architecture”now denotes the medieval type of architecture， characterized by the use of the high pointed arch and vault， flying buttresses， and intricate recesses， which spread through western Europe between the twelfth and sixteenth centuries. The Gothic novel， or in an alternative term， Gothic romance， is a type of prose fiction which was inaugurated by Horace Walpole’s The Castle of Otranto: A Gothic Story (1764)—the subtitle refers to its setting in the middle ages—and flourished through the early nineteenth century. Some writers followed Walpole’s example by setting their stories in the medieval period; others set them in a Catholic country， especially Italy or Spain. The locale was often a gloomy castle furnished with dungeons， subterranean passages， and sliding panels; the typical story focused on the sufferings imposed on an innocent heroine by a cruel and lustful villain， and made bountiful use of ghosts， mysterious disappearances， and other sensational and supernatural occurrences (which in a number of novels turned out to have natural explanations). The principle aim of such novels was to evoke chilling terror by exploiting mystery and a variety of horrors. Many of them are now read mainly as period pieces， but the best opened up to fiction the realm of the irrational and of the perverse impulses and nightmarish terrors that lie beneath the orderly surface of the civilized mind. The term “Gothic” has also been extended to a type of fiction which lacks the exotic setting of the earlier romances， but develops a brooding atmosphere of gloom and terror， represents events that are uncanny or macabre or melodramatically violent， and often deals with aberrant psychological states. 【1】

From the very beginning of the novel， Joyce has been constantly using the word “blind”， which not only emotionally reveals comments on the boy’s colour-blinded love for her dream girl， but also arouses a kind of invisible， mysterious gloom horror in terms of novel setting.

“Mangan’s sisiter” is the girl who has got the boy head over heels. But all through this novel， she doesn’t even have a certain name of her own but just someone else’s sister. This unexplainable mystery accentuates in the boy’s secret-love fantasies—— “her figure defined by the light from the half-opened door”; “Her name sprang to my lips at moments in strange prayers and praises which I myself did not understand. My eyes were often full of tears (I could not tell why)”; “Her image accompanied me even in places the most hostile to romance”; “the white curve of her neck”， “eclipses her in light”. Gothically， Mangan’s sisiter’s image “haunts” the boy from time to time.

In addition， the depiction of sceneries of the former tenant’s house both light and dark， active and depressing， form a sharp contrast which challenge the reader’s tension. Moreover， a series of deserted display represents the death image.

The boy somewhat also has a sort of gothic mentality; he even takes pleasure in those masochistic-like sufferings. For the purpose of peeping Mangan’s sisiter or just a glance of her shadow， he spares no fears placing himself in the gloomy， macabre and unpleasant surroundings at night——with “the cold air”， “the silent street”， “the dark muddy lanes behind the houses”， “the dark dripping gardens where odours arouse from the ashpits”， “the dark odorous stables” all beneath him.

And even the most vulgar worldly daily routine such as “the flaring streets”， “drunken men”， “bargaining women”， “the curses of labourers” and so on， cannot prevent him from thinking of his love simply because “Her image accompanied me even in places the most hostile to romance”， “just the sound of her name makes his heart leap”， “The high cold empty gloomy rooms liberated me”， which sound very sensational.

The boy’s been crazy and silly going to Araby because Mangan’s sisiter might just have joked for a while. Also， it is rather tough for him to reach this goal. But he has made it eventually by overcoming nameless difficulties including the doubts from people around， the ignorance of his uncle， the delay of the journey and the indifference from the service people in the bazaar. In the end， the boy has really toiled himself pursuing a heartless girl.

To wrap up in a conclusion， with gothic elements the novel provides a gothic taste to the reader while reading the hero’s illusionary pursuit.

Notes:

【1】M.H. Abrams， A Glossary of Literary Terms. 7th ed. Boston: Heinle， 1999， P110-111。

Works Cited：

[1]Abrams M.H.， A Glossary of Literary Terms. 7th ed. Boston: Heinle， 1999.

[2]Joyce James. Dubliners [M]. Nanjing: Yilin Press， 1996.

[3]Zhang Boxiang. A Course Book of English Literature. Wuhan: Wuhan University Press， 2006.